Reg, sitting atop his Storm Chaser with Rebecca at his six, they stare at a cross roads leading into the remnants of Valmere. He puts his right hand up to his temple activating coms with the group and begins shouting out orders. “Tank, take left flank and circle around to the Chancellors residence. Cav, take the right. No coms unless you run into trouble!” he commands. “And Cav, kill that damn music will ya!”

Johnny leans down to turn off the music, “Shit, how does he always kn--?”“Really” Sineca cuts him off.

Looking baffled Johnny tries to reply, “Wh--”?“You can’t be serious”? She cuts him off again.

William now laughing gives his two cents from the back seat. “She’s got a point Cav. Hell I bet you even have a beat already lined out for your damn funeral”?

Glancing back at William then smiling at Sineca before returning his eyes to the road. Johnny replies, “Well, you know what they say. All work and no play (William chimes in) MAKES JOHNNY A DULL BOY”, they finish in harmony. “Hahahahaha…” They both laugh. Johnny raises his hand up over his shoulder exposing his palm to William, William slaps it.

“Children, I swear”, Sineca responds to the laughter filling the Wraith.

Turning his attention back to the road, Reg thinks about the last time he was in Valmere. The last night he saw his parents alive and how the beasts drove him from his home when he was just twelve years old. He wonders for a moment what lies ahead. Does his childhood home even stand? Will he find what he’s come all this way for or will it all be burned to ash? Will he find his parents corpses still lying on the floor rotted to bone? Or did that monster take them, desecrate them? That thought begins to enrage him, “I’ll kill that Son of A Bitch!” he thinks to himself. Revving his bike he looks back over his shoulder “And we’re going right through the center of town” he says.

“Fuck Yeah!” Rebecca replies, “Let’s kick some ass!”

They both lean forward as Reg pops the clutch spewing a rooster tail of dirt high into the air as the bike surges ahead.

As they enter the city Reg slows the bike in order to avoid all the debris that covers the streets. Valmere was once the greatest city to emerge at the end of the Imulsion era, now it’s just a shadow of its former glory. Rubble from collapsed buildings litters the streets. Once peaceful homes are now burned to the ground and overgrown with vegetation. Reg can still hear the laughter of children playing in the streets, memories from long ago. He can also hear the screams of his neighbors as they roll past a large pole riddled with the bones of several skeletons still tied too it.

“You seeing this shit Reg”?, Jimmy’s voice comes over com link.

Johnny quickly chimes in, “Yeah we’ve got human shish kabobs all over the place; someone had a serious hard on for the residents of Valmere that’s for sure”!

In the center of town Reg hesitates for a min as they approach the main street that leads up to the Chancellors residence. With mixed emotions he stares down that long road at his childhood home. As intrigued as he is to see the place still standing. Still completely intact and minus the overgrowth of vegetation, still looking like home. A part of him was hoping to never see it again. Hoping that it would be completely destroyed! Yet there it stands the largest house on the block, mostly unscathed. A house once filled with hopes, dreams, love and respect. Now who knows what terrors lurk behind its walls. As he ponders his thoughts, Abrans Pack Horse and Johnny’s Wraith arrive from adjacent directions and fall in line behind the Storm Chaser.

“The Locust really hit this place hard, looks like they were trying to send a message” Rebecca says in a somber tone.

As her words sink into Regs thoughts he begins to realize what horrors lie before them. The entire street is outlined with the skeletons of the cities former residents. Each tied to a pole, their head removed and placed at their feet. Each with a different engraving on their skull presumably carved into their forehead while they were still alive. As much as Reg didn’t want to give Bodakia the privilege of reading his handy work he couldn’t help but notice the markings. “Infidel”, “Scum”, “Weak”, “Puny” they read and on one the left side of the skull is caved in leaving just three letters visible on the right, “OKE”. As he rolls past, looking back he can see two more letters on the caved in left side, “BR”.

“What kind of man would carve that into another man’s skull just before bashing it in? Played out like some kind of sick joke!” Reg thinks to himself. Then the realization sets in, he’s not dealing with men. “Yeah, a message” Reg replies in anger. Having seen enough he revs his bike and accelerates quickly down the rest of the street leading up to his parents’ home.

“This is some fucked up shit”! Jimmy says. “I heard of places like this but I didn’t truly believe it, till now anyways”.

“Welcome to the D…Z… mates, we’re now livin by Rafferty’s Rules” Alistar says. “It’s like a stroll down memory lane, a walk through fucking history if you will! And all these poor buggers, they’re the bloody history! A lesson to be learned Bones, lesson to be learned”.

Up ahead as the Storm Chaser rolls to a stop Reg puts his feet down firmly on the ground. In one fluid motion, Rebecca lifts her left foot high into the air, spins around, dismounts the bike and walks toward the oncoming Pack Horse. Directing traffic with hand signals she points to the ground then raises her arms in a circular pattern, interlocking her fingers over her head.

“Must be expecting company if she’s calling for Camo formation” Jimmy says.

Following her directions Abran pulls the Pack Horse in close to the Storm Chaser. Johnny pulls his Wraith in close as well.

“Bones get the Optic-cam up!” Reg commands.

“On it” he replies.

After shuffling around in the back compartment of the Pack Horse JImmy returns with a large case shaped like a box. He sets it on the ground between the vehicles and presses a button on the side. The case hums and beeps before locking mechanism are heard disengaging. As the case automatically opens a rod extends out of it 12ft. straight up into the air. Once fully extended, Jimmy opens a hatch at the base of the unit exposing a touch screen and begins tapping and sliding his fingers across it. The machine begins to hum louder and the tip of the rod begins to glow as arcs of electricity crackle through the air. Then in a brilliant flash of light the entire group disappears, vehicles and all.

Regs voice can suddenly be heard out of thin air. “Star, Tank and Bones circle around to the back entrance. Cav, Sin and Billy you got the side entrance on the South. Rebecca and I are going in the front. This will be our rally point if we are compromised, understood? Good, now gear up and let’s move”! Like some kind of magic trick Reg appears from nowhere, then Rebecca after him. As they make their way toward the front entrance Johnny, Sin and Billy suddenly appear as well and head toward the side of the home. Then Alistar appears followed closely by Jimmy.

“Yo Bones”, Jimmy hears Abran call out to him from behind.Turning around Jimmy see's Abran’s bodiless head floating in the air with this stupid grin on his face.

“Woah…Woah…Woah…Woah”, Abran jokes, as his head bobs and floats around in a circular pattern.Jimmy tries not to laugh but can’t help it, Abran looks so ridiculous without his body.

“Hahahaha..”, Abran’s head chuckles, amused that he got a laugh out of Jimmy.

Thinking the prank is over Jimmy turns and starts to walk away.

“Yo Bones” Abran calls out again.Jimmy stops and thinks for a sec about whether or not he should actually turn around. Curiosity getting the best of him, he turns to see Abran’s arm floating in the air.

Jimmy can’t help but laugh again. “Come on Tank, quit messing around man. Reg is going to get pissed, let’s go”.

Abran finally steps forward revealing his entire self. Chuckling as he looks back at where his Pack Horse should be, “Man I don’t know how you created that thing Bones, but that’s some crazy shit right there!”

“It’s actually pretty simple” Jimmy replies. “It just creates an electrical force field, a bubble of sorts. Then the optic camera transfers background images onto the field. An optical illusion, that’s all it is really.”

“Yeah… simple, riiiight, says the little man with the big brain” Abran blurts out as he heads off towards his objective.

More coming soon...

Last edited by A.D.Fenix on Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:59 am; edited 1 time in total

As Reginald approaches the front of the house he motions to Rebecca to take the right side of the door way, while he takes the left. Easing his back up against the wall he slowly slides to his left, until, he is in a position to quickly turn and enter the residence. Leaning his head back, he rests it comfortably against the concrete that encapsulates this place he once called home. Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath, inhaling through his nose and releasing through his mouth. Doubts begin to cloud his thoughts, “you don’t need to do this, you could just walk away?” He thinks to himself. “F*ck that! I’m a man!” He challenges. “Maybe, but are you truly ready for what lies beyond that door?”

Opening his eyes, he speaks out loud, “for my Father!”

Slowly peaking around the corner, his eyes squint as they dart around the room. The sunlight glares down on his face, making it difficult for him to see very far beyond the illuminated entry way. Glancing over at Rebecca, he nods his head, letting her know that he’s about to breech the entrance.

She nods in compliance, assuring him that she’s ready, and will follow him to the gates of hell, if need be.

Spinning to his left, he simultaneously lifts his weapon to his shoulder and enters the doorway, while aiming down the sights of his rifle. Suddenly, he stops, cold in his tracks, as the silhouettes’ of three frightened little children come running out and pass right through him.

“Reg, you alright” Rebecca asks? Seeing him standing, frozen, in the entry way.

But he is too caught up with the demons dancing in his head to reply. “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you”, a little boy’s cries echo! “Ugh”, he hears his father’s painful gasp!

Somehow, pushing through his near catatonic state, he manages to step inside the door way. Looking to his right, he is shocked and horrified, when he sees his father, pinned to the wall like a fly in someone’s insect art collection. RAAMs sword still stuck in his chest, he just dangles there like a rag doll, as blood drips from his mouth and runs down the blade of the sword, then drips into a pool of red on the floor.

He suddenly feels a soft breath on his left ear, “Reginald” a woman whispers.

Startled, he gasps, and whips his head to the left. His gut sinks, as he sees Anya, standing in the corner of the room, right in front of the closet he hid in as a child and watched her die. “Mom” he mumbles in disbelief, as his arms become limp and fall to his side, pointing his weapon to the floor.

“Oh my god” Rebecca sighs, as she walks into the room.

Reginald stands with his back to her, staring off into a corner. To his right, it looks as though someone had been brutally murdered with an Axe. The wall is chipped away and stained with dried blood that streaks down to the floor. At the base of the wall lies a partially clothed headless skeleton, wearing only a tank top and pants, but apparently no shoes. Around Reginald the room is practically destroyed, littered with broken furniture and blood stained wood. It’s obvious that an enormous struggle had taken place here, leaving at least one poor soul to die, and to rot, on the floor. Walking up beside Reginald, she begins to understand what commands his attention.

Before him, lying on the floor, in the corner of the room, is yet another headless skeleton. Dressed in women’s sleep attire, fine Seran silk covers most of her remains. Rebecca doesn’t truly know why, but it’s obvious that Reginald is distraught as he stares, solemnly, at the woman’s corpse.

They’ve seen hundreds if not thousands, of dead, scattered about Sera on their many ventures. So why is this different, why does this seem personal to him? How can it be that this man that she’s never seen falter or fail, suddenly, be standing here with such a defeated look on his face. She wants to approach him, ask him, “What the hell is wrong with you?” But then it dawn’s on her, her conflict isn’t with him, no, it’s within her. She never knew how she would react to seeing him in pain, because he’d never shown pain, or weakness, for that matter. He was the strongest, toughest son of a b*tch she had ever known! But there he stands, looking broken, like a child that had lost his way.

“OMG...” she thought, “it’s his mother!”

Suddenly, she found herself even more conflicted. “But this is the Chancellor’s residence; this was the home to Marcus and Anya Fenix!”

Every Seran knows the stories of Marcus, Anya and Delta squad. After all, it’s the most fabled tale ever told in Seran history.

“But if that’s true, it means… he’s a Fenix!”

“Holy crap, have I been shacking up with the son of Marcus and Anya Fenix?!” The thought somehow excites her, yet upsets her at the same time.

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

Then she realizes, she’s never asked, hell, no-one has! Sharing last names just isn’t really something Seran’s do anymore.

“Have we become so adapt to losing people, that we don’t even care to, truly, know who they are anymore?” She questions herself. The thought disturbs her and she wonders for a moment, “Have we become an uncaring people? Have the locust taken away our morality, our humanity? Am I just a heartless B*TCH!?”

Pondering her thoughts, her face turns slightly pale, caused by her own mind f*ck, upsetting her stomach. Slowly, raising her gaze from the corpse in the corner of the room, she looks over to Reginald. His eyes glazed and watery, she thinks to herself, “I’m not a heartless b*tch, I can’t be!”

Then, for the first time in her life, she acknowledges something she never thought possible, “I’m in love with this man!”

Placing her right hand on Reginald’s shoulder she asks him softly, “Are you ok?”

Reginald slowly closes his eyes, compressing the water that has formed over his retinae, it causes a tear to slip out from under his eye lid, which rolls down his cheek, then drips off the side of his jaw, falling to the blood stained floor.

“Ugh” he groans, as he shakes his head, trying to cleanse the demons from his thoughts.

He then looks over at Rebecca and calmly states two simple little words, that tell so much, yet, mean so little, “I’m fine.” He quietly replies.

As he turns away, her hand falls off his shoulder, and he marches over to where his father lays.

Bending down, he sets the butt of his rifle on the floor, propping the barrel against the wall, he begins examining Marcus’s remains. Unable to find his father’s COG tags, it’s really starting to piss him off. “It’s not enough that you took his f*cking head, you had to take his tags as well!?” he thinks to himself.

“You’re a Fenix, aren’t you?” Rebecca asks.

Caught a little of guard by her question, he pauses for a moment. His eyes surveying the bones beneath him, he replies, “Yes”, before continuing on with his search.

“That’s crazy - your parents - what they did… they’re legendary!”

“Yeah, a lot of good that did them” he replies, as he pulls a dull silver key from his father’s pants pocket. Holding the key with his left thumb and index finger, he raises it up to eye level, “and there you are” he mumbles to himself. Storing the key away in a cargo pocket on his left leg, he picks up a silver and gold sword off the floor, then stands, gazing down upon his father’s remains.

“I swear to you father, I will avenge you! I will not stop until I have the Beasts’ f*cking head on a spike! …I know you did everything you could, to protect her, to protect us. …It’s ok; I’ll finish this… for you - for mother - and for the people of Sera!”

“What the f*ck happened in here?” Billy asks, slightly startling Reginald and Rebecca, as he enters the front room.

“Can it Billy!” Rebecca replies, hoping to shut him up before he says something that might get him knocked on his as*.

As the rest of The Pack file into the room, she tries to warn them about what exactly this is, that they’re walking into. Trying to speak to them quietly, her lips move but they can’t make out what she’s trying to say.

The group looks at one another, some shake their head, and others shrug their shoulders, expressing their misunderstanding.

She tries again, a little louder this time, hoping Reg still won’t hear, “It’s h-“

“Time to move”, Reginald cuts her off by finishing her sentence.

Turning around, he walks towards the group. As he approaches Rebecca, the two make eye contact and he slightly shakes his head. For a moment, her eyes break away, as she glances down to the floor, and then she slightly nods her head, agreeing to not tell the others.

Looking to the group, Reginald does what he does best, leads!

“Star, behind me lays Marcus and Anya Fenix. I want you to get two body bags off the horse and police up their remains, all of them, do you understand me Alistar?”

“Piss off, Marcus and Anya, did you say?” He replies.

“That’s right” Reg answers.

“Well F*ck me sideways, you’re f*cking serious, aren’t cha?

Reginald just nods.

“Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, I’m on it” Alistar says, as he turns and marches off. “Bloody hell” he can still be heard rambling on as he turns the corner, exiting the front of the home.

“Go with him Billy!” Reg says, nodding his head in the direction Alistar ran off.

“Yes Sir!” he replies, then double times off to catch up with his father.

“Bones, I want a Tracker setup over there, in the middle of the room” Reginald orders, pointing into the kitchen, which is located at the approximate mid-point of the home. “If anything moves within 100 meters, I want to know about it!”

“And let me guess, Sin and I, will clear the rest of the house?” Johnny asks, in an uninspired tone, bordering on sarcasm.

Reginald looks over at Johnny, “That’s what I love about you Cav, you’re the smartest son of a b*tch I've ever met. However, you don’t need to clear the whole house, just the rest of this floor-and-ah-oh yeah… the basement!” Reginald chuckles, as he adds a tad bit more information with a slight hint of his own sarcasm. “Be careful down there, it may be partially flooded if the sub-pump hasn’t been run in a while!”

“Rebecca and I will clear the upstairs, now let’s move our as*es, we don’t have all day here!”

As Reginald and Rebecca make their way up the stairs, Johnny turns to Sineca, “Do you really think he meant that?” he asks her.

“Meant what?” she replies.

“You know, about me being so f*cking smart?” he says, with a hint of laughter.

“Come on Cav, we all know Bones is some kind of freaking boy genius, what do you think?!” She says, turning and walking toward the next room.

Johnny hesitates for a second, smirks, then begins to follow Sineca down the hall, “As*hole!” he mumbles, glancing up toward the footsteps thumping the floor over his head.

Jimmy takes a knee, removes his back pack and places it on the floor. He opens a flap on the side and pulls out a metallic cylinder shaped canister, approximately 18 inches long. Twisting the lid it comes off and falls to the side, dangling by a small chain attachment. Placing his free hand over the opening, he turns it upside down releasing its contents. A black devise resembling a folded up tri-pod with a metallic sphere attached at the top, falls into his hand. He extends three support legs of the pod, they snap into place with a slight clicking sound. Then he stands the devise on the floor in the center of the kitchen and begins rummaging through his back pack once again.

“Where the hell are you, you little sh*t” he talks to himself. “Ah-ha” he says, expressing a bit of joy and relief at the same time.

God knows, Reginald would not have been happy with him, had he lost the tracking remote leaving the devise all but useless and the group vulnerable to a surprise attack. Granted, the tracker is only dependable up to 100 meters, but still, that’s better than the enemy knocking at the front door, unannounced! That scenario would surely end poorly for him and his friends as speed and stealth are essential to their survival, in this world, dominated by the locust horde.

Removing a small leather pouch from his pack he opens it up and takes a touch pad remote out of it. Holding it in his left hand he touches the screen with his right index finger. A flashing vertical line appears on the screen and then disappears for a few seconds followed by a message, “Scanning for compatible devices… Please stand by…”

Jimmy shakes his head, impatiently waiting.

“Tracker 113 detected… Would you like to connect…?” the screen inquires.

He touches the screen to comply.

“Connecting… Would you like to activate Tracking devise 113…?”

“Yes” he thinks to himself, touching the screen.

“Are you sure…?” the screen questions.

“OMG, yes!” he spurts out loud as he confirms his command by rapidly tapping on the screen.

Without further warning, a rod shoots out of the bottom of Tracker 113 penetrating the hardwood beneath it and anchoring itself to the floor. The suddenness of the event startles Jimmy and he nearly drops the da*m remote, a subtle reminder as to why he added the precaution in the first place.

“That was awesome!” he chuckles to himself, amused with his own handy work.

Over hearing the commotion from his post in the front room, Abran shouts out, “Damn Bones, I don’t know what you’re cooking up in there, but make enough for two, I’m starvin!”

As Jimmy continues to program 113 via the remote, he looks over his shoulder, in the general direction Abran addressed him from. “Yeah, well what would you like me to muster up for ya brah, maybe some hot cakes or, I know… how about some scrambled eggs with a hash brown and a nice side of bacon?” “How’s that sound?” Jimmy shouts back.

“OHHH SH*T, now you’re talking Bones, Mother Fuc*in bacon, OMG… I would kill for that sh*t right there!” “There isn’t a locust in the world that could keep my as* off that plate!” “I’d be like, NOM,nom,nom… get off me bit*h… nom.. nom... I’m eatin my bacon! Nom,nom,nom…” he continues making chomping sounds, while throwing his arms in the air like he’s tossing grubs, and shaking his head like a starving animal that has just bitten into its first kill in weeks.

Jimmy can’t help but laugh at the odd noises coming from Abran, as he continues to stomp around in the next room.

“Fuc*ing Tank man.” He thinks to himself, and then mumbles under his breath, “sorry bro, no bacon in here, just dust and death man, that’s about it.”

Now that tracker 113 has securely fastened itself into place, the metallic sphere at the top of its base begins to elevate and open slowly. As its spherical walls come down, several metal rings are revealed from within, each beginning to rotate within the other. Accelerating at a rapid pace, the rings quickly become a blur to the naked eye until an aura of light begins to surround them. The faster they spin, the larger the aura grows until it suddenly disperses, expelling like a silent shockwave of invisible energy, it traverses 100 meters in all directions.

Jimmy takes a step back to observe his surroundings and to watch 113 in action.

Now that it is fully operational, 113 is steadily sending out an energy pulse every 8.5secs. Each pulse penetrates all forms of known matter, in all directions, displaying heat signatures of any living creature that moves within its boundaries onto Jimmy’s touch pad.

Jimmy has already pre-programmed 113 to recognize each Pack member’s heat signature and each show up on his display as a blue tick mark, while unknown signatures show up as red. Just for kicks, Jimmy has added little icons above his friends tick marks allowing him to easily identify who’s who. A little touch he finds personally gratifying and slightly amusing as well. The one drawback of the tracker is if nothing moves during a pulse, then nothing shows up on the display. It’s a minor glitch that Jimmy hasn’t been able to rectify just yet, despite his persistence.

Watching his display, a small counter in the lower right corner is counting down, 4…3…2…1. Suddenly, several blue dots appear on his screen, all within close proximity to his own and each with its own little icon overlay. The dots freeze on the screen for a few seconds and then fade until the next pulse detects their new location.

Jimmy lifts his right arm, extending his middle and index finger he places them against his temple activating coms with the group.

“You got it Reg!” he replies, as if he didn’t already know that would be reg’s response.

Jimmy digs through his duffle bag once more, removes a leather brace and straps it to his left wrist. He then takes the tracking remote, presses it against his wrist and it neatly snaps into place. He grabs his remaining gear and heads off back into the front room to rejoin Abran.

“I don’t know about bacon man, but if we get lucky, maybe a nice fat Stugmire will wonder within tracking distance.”

“Hell Yeah!” Abran replies, “Sounds good bro, sounds real good!”

Johnny places his hand on the basement doorknob, turns the handle and slowly the door creaks open. He can barely see more than a few feet beyond the door way, but can make out a spiral metal stairwell descending down into the darkness.

“Well, that’s not creepy at all” he speaks out, to no particular audience.

“Aw… is little Cavy afraid of the dark”? Sineca teases.

“No, me no agusta eso” (No, I don’t like it) he mumbles while staring down into the pitch black, his back to his partner. Johnny rarely speaks his native tongue but it seems to flow by default when he becomes nervous at times.

“What“? Sineca asks.

He flicks the light switch up and down, knowing damn well it’s not going to work, he does it anyways. “Uh… sorry, my mother didn’t raise an impolite fool, where are my manners, ladies first”! he says, as he steps to the left side of the doorway and looks back at Sineca.

Sineca reaches back with her right hand and pulls a flash light from the side of her back pack and then attaches it to the underside of her assault rifle. “Pu*sy”! She says, as she turns on the light and pushes past Johnny to begin her descent into the darkness.

“I… maybe, and maybe, usted es una mujer loca”(you are a crazy woman)! He says, with a smirk and a chuckle as he attaches his light and follows her down.

Descending the long circular stairwell, they make their way down to the basement of the residence. With every step comes the clang of hard rubber on metal, the further they progress the louder their steps become as they echo around the concrete walls of a rather large sub floor.

“WTF”!? Sineca says displaying here discontent as she stops her descent, the light from her weapon bounces off a sheen of murky water that hides the flooring and the bottom of the stairwell.

“Sh*t, how deep do you think it is”? Johnny asks.

Sineca shines her light around the room, cabinets and shelves can be seen protruding from the water.

“My guess is 2-3ft. maybe, only one way to find out”. She says as she continues down the steps, submerging herself into the water.

Johnny waits on the stairs, shinning his light on Sineca, he watches as the water ripples off her movement and her lower half slowly disappears in its depth. She hesitates, the water now up to her belly button.

“If this isn’t the bottom, I’m done here”! She thinks to herself, and then begins exploring the floor with her right foot. “I’m on the bottom, now come on, let’s get this over with”! She shouts at Johnny, as she carefully wades forward through some floating debris.

“Oh… it’s confirmed, you’re definitely a crazy woman”! Johnny mumbles as he submerges his left foot and then his right.

“What”?! She asks as she stops for a second, waiting for his reply.

“Nothing, just saying I’m right behind you… uh… HOLY SH*T THIS IS COLD”! He says with a surprised shiver, as the water comes up to his crotch.

Sineca laughs, she can't help but make a snide comment, “I guess you have a pair after all”.

“Wait, what?!” he asks, a little perturbed by her suggestion that he might not.

“Never mind, let’s just go, the sooner we clear this sump, the sooner we can get the F*ck out of here”!

“What the hell are we supposed to find down here anyways, it’s a damn cesspool”?

“Orders are orders, do you want to go back and tell Reg you pus*ied out”? “No? I didn’t think so, so quite your whining and let’s get this over with”.

Rebecca follows Reg through a large double door entry way that leads into the master bedroom of the chancellor’s residence.

“So, you going to tell me what that fancy little key’s for”? She asks.

“You really don’t miss a thing do you, well, come here and I’ll show you”. He says, as he walks around a desk, nicely placed in front of another large set of double doors. Then he suddenly notices the telling look of Rebecca’s interest, shinning on her face, as she stares at the glow beaming through the doors double pain windows. “Beautiful isn’t it”? He asks.

She nods as she walks closer to the doors that lead out onto a balcony, overlooking the city of Valmere.

“My mother used to spend every morning out there, watching, as the city would come to life. She used to tell me it was a miracle, people living without fear. To wake up every morning, free… free of war, free of heartache and pain, free of suffering, a world with ballast at last. It was all the people of Sera could ever hope for”.

Rebecca opens the double doors allowing the sunlight to illuminate the dusty room, she walks out onto the balcony, and Reginald follows.

He continues. “Their blood and tears rebuilt the ground from ash; they built cities like this one, Valmere. The greatest city Sera has ever known. The people of Sera were finally united with a single purpose, to survive and prosper. But it was all a lie, they were deceived”.

Reginald places his hands on the railing that surrounds the balcony. His fingers begin to tightly constrict around the fine wood work and his voice intensifies, as he stares down at the corpse lined street.

“They weren’t the only one’s rebuilding. No, the whole time the locust waited, hiding in the depths of the planets darkness, biding their time, rebuilding their ranks and planning their vengeance! And this… this is what became of free Sera; do they look like free people to you? Because I just see headless corpses, bound to poles like dogs”!

She can barely muster a few words out of her mouth, “I trust you Reg”. While inside she’s thinking that it doesn’t really matter, she would follow him anywhere.

“Well, it’s not just a homecoming party if that’s what you were thinking”! He says, with a half-smile and a bit of sarcastic humor, obviously trying to cut some of the tension in the air, which he has created.

Rebecca lets out a small laugh and says, “Yeah, I figured as much, never really took you for a family oriented kind of guy”.

“Really, well, you may be surprised”! He says.

“Yes, you are full of surprises”! She counters, and adds a playful smile. “So, you going to show me what that key’s for, or what”?

Reginald pulls out the key and walks over to the desk. He inserts it into a keyhole above a drawer on the right hand side and turns it. “Click”, the lock disengages. As he opens the drawer, Rebecca quickly notices it looks completely empty and wonders, what should’ve been their? But Reg doesn’t seem concerned at all; instead, he reaches into the drawer with his palm facing upwards and presses against the underside of the desk. Another click can be heard to her right, coming from behind a large painting of an old man on the wall.

Reginald walks over to the painting of his grandfather, Adam Fenix and pulls on the right side. It unhinges and swings open to the left revealing a small metal safe, built into the wall. He opens a hatch cover on the lower right exposing a keypad and then begins entering a passcode, 11072006. Once finished with the code he reaches up, placing both hands on the upper edge of the safe he pulls and the door opens in a downward motion. He briefly hesitates, as his eyes survey the contents within and then he reaches in and removes a bracelet and a large piece of folded parchment. Walking back over to the desk, he lies down the parchment and then takes the bracelet and attaches it to his left wrist. Unfolding the parchment, it spreads out, revealing a map of some sorts. Reginald points to a marker on the map, “This is why we’re here”! He says, looking over at Rebecca.

She takes a step closer to the desk in order to get a better view of the marker. “That’s just a few miles from here, what is it”? She asks.

“That… is my father’s Utopia”! He replies.

“I don’t understand, what do you mean by utopia”?

“Oh… just enough food and supplies to last us for at least a decade. Enough weapons and ammunition to take on the entire locust horde! Armor, hot showers and soft beds! And then there's the ICC and Dom, those you'll have to see for yourself to believe, trust me. All within a sealed fortified bunker, built into solid rock! My father stockpiled that bunker for years, just in case, you know? My mother never even knew about it and he made me swear on and old COGs oath, to never tell her”.

“Wait, you mean like the oaths the Gears used to take? That must have really been something, to be a Gear! You’re father sounds like a very wise and amazing man”!

Thanks Publik, here's some more! BTW, the OP ran out of characters so I will have to continue this on with several seperate post. We are a long, long way from the end!

William holds a vinyl body bag open while Alistar places the last of Anya’s remains into it. “I’d say that’s a wrap mate”. He says to his son, then he takes one last look at her headless skeleton, “Sorry about your head miss, its unfortunate someone felt they needed it more then you”.

“Well, lucky for you, your mum couldn’t keep her da*n knickers on, or you wouldn’t be here to hear me say weird sh*t! Ha, ha…!" Alistar replies, nudging his son with his elbow as he stands up.

Abran, sitting against the wall a few feet away, watching out the window, let’s out a slight chuckle, “Ha… did he really just say Knickers? Bones, did he just sat that?"

“I believe he did” Jimmy replies, as he tries not to laugh himself.

“Ha, ha, ha… Knickers! That’s a good one Star, I’ve never heard that sh*t before!"

“Ha… ha… yeah very funny, you do realize he’s talking about my mom’s pants here?" William says, hoping his words will calm the laughter and shut everyone up. Instead, he inadvertantly adds fire to the punch line and now even Jimmy can’t help hold back, as the room erupts with the laughter of everyone except William.

Suddenly a beep comes from Jimmy’s tracker remote, which he barely hears over all their laughter. “Shh, shh, SHH!” He says to the group as he notices a red tick marker on his remote and then it slowly fades out.

Alistar and Abran slowly quiet down, “What is it Bones?" William asks.

Reginald and Rebecca quickly turn and run over to the balcony, ready their weapons and peer out, down towards the street. Reginald activates coms, “Where Bones? I don’t see anything on the street”!

Jimmy watches with wide eyes as the remote counts down, 3…2…1. “Beeeep” the red tick glares just a few meters from where Jimmy stands. “Son of a b*tch, it’s in the FUC*ING HOUSE!" He shouts, as he jumps up and removes his EP (electrical pulse) pistols from each side of his belt and holds them up, directly in front of him.

The rest of the group grabs their weapons and wait for Jimmy’s direction. He twists his left wrist just in time to see the red tick fade on his remote.

“It’s just to the North of the kitchen”! He says.

Alistar, considered the highest ranking member in the room, speaks up. “Alright fella’s, here’s what's going to happen. The three of us are going to go and introduce ourselves to our new found friend. Tank, you stay put and guard that Fuc*ing window, eh."

“You got it Star”, Abran replies.

“Right, now let’s go have some fun boys!" Alistar says, to Jimmy and William. Then he activates coms, “Reg, we’ve got a possible tos*er in the house, just North of the keechen, watch your arse mate!"

Alistar and William lead the hunt while Jimmy brings up the rear, keeping a close eye on the remote and their visitors location. They very methodically make their way past the kitchen and down the hall. Utilizing a move and cover system, Alistar moves first and then William, until they reach a closed door at the end of the hallway. Aligning themselves at each side of the doorway, they look to Jimmy and wait for his signal.

Jimmy turns the volume off on his remote so that the beep won’t alert their company and then he stares impatiently at the screen. A bead of sweat slowly rolls down his brow as it counts down once again, 3… 2… 1... “It’s in there”, he whispers.

Alistar nods once to his son, William shakes his head yes in return. Then Alistar steps in front of the door, lifts his right foot and kicks the door! The impact from his size 14 boot splinters the wood framing and the door slings open. Alistar and William simultaneously breach the entry way, both crouching and scanning in opposite directions, while aiming down the sights of their rifles. But there’s nothing there! They find themselves standing in the middle of a child’s play room, surrounded by pink wall paper and aiming their weapons at dolls and stuffed animals.

“WTF Bones, is that thing working right?" William asks.

“Yah, it… it should be fine!” He replies and then he looks up and surveys the ceiling. “Sh*t, it has to be above us, nobody fu*king move, hold completely still!" Once again, he waits as the remote counts down, 2… 1… suddenly a blue dot appears with a little sombrero icon above it, directly in front of where he stands. “What the hell?" He mumbles.

“What, what is it?" William inquires.

“Uh… It’s Cav", He replies.

“Bloody hell Bones, WTF you mean, It’s Cav?" Alistar demands to know!

Jimmy activates coms, “Cav, where the hell are you?"

“I’m in the da*n basement Mr. Brainiac, up to my nuts in agua sucia (dirty water). Where the f*ck are you my friend?" Johnny mutes coms, then whistles at Sineca and says, “I guarantee you; it’s someplace better then here!"

“Well Duh, that’s an understatement”, she replies.

Activating coms again, Jimmy asks everyone to stay still except Johnny. “Cav, I need you to keep moving, wave your arms in the air or something. I want to make sure this thing’s working properly."

Sineca turns around and shines her flashlight directly at Johnny, “come on Cav, spotlights on, let’s see you do a little dance."

Johnny stares directly into the light and shakes his head, “You freakin kidding me right now?" He asks.

“Ah… ha, ha… I knew it; I knew you were holding back on me. So, you want to see ol Johnny dance eh?"

“Well, you’re such the ladies’ man, how could I possibly resist?" She says, as she rolls her eyes, from behind the bright light that’s shinning in his face.

“Alright, since you’re practically begging and all, I guess I can show you a thing or two”. He says. He quickly lifts his rifle into the air with his left hand, then his right hand begins to do a little wave, followed closely by a slight hip sway from side to side. “Ah yea...!" He says.

Sineca has to place her left hand over her mouth, to keep herself from cracking up!

“WHAA…!” Cav screams, caught in the middle of an awkward dance step and trying to flee! He spins around so fast he loses his footing and falls backwards, into the water, and then he comes up screaming, gun blazing!

“Ba-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at”, His assault rifle pumps out rounds. The deafening sound echoes off the walls and yet just barely drowns out the sound of his own screams, as he fires blindly into the darkness.

“Pin*he cul*ro (F*cking As*hole)” Johnny babbles, as he takes his right hand and wipes the water from his face. Standing there, now soaked from head to toe, he activates coms, “F*cking Bones, you scared the living sh*t out of me! Stop messing around man!"

“Yeah? Well f*ck it! I’m out of this sh*t hole!" He replies, and then he heads back towards the stairwell and disappears around a corner.

She decides to follow him, to save him from himself, if nothing else. As she comes around the corner she’s slightly startled by his silhouette standing still just a few meters ahead. “What the hell are you doing Cav?" She asks.

He doesn’t respond.

As she raises her light she notices blood dripping in the water directly behind him. Her first instinct is to shut off her light, so she does. Then she finds herself standing in pitch black, the only light coming from Cavs weapon, which is partially submerged in water at his side. The only sound in the room is his blood dripping into the water, until, suddenly; she hears this grotesque slurping, like a starving calf sucking on its mother’s nipple. For a second she starts to slightly panic, “No... not Cav!" She thinks to herself, as the last few moments they just spent together, quickly runs through her mind. Then she realizes, she has to pull herself together or she may be next! Gathering her thoughts, she tries to focus on the situation and plan her next move.

“Ugh… that was stupid, turning out the light; leaving me in the blind, while something nocturnal may be lurking in the room”, she thinks to herself. Then she decides her best course of action is to turn it back on. So she points her weapon directly at Johnny and pushes the button.

She’s horrified by what she sees!

Something, some kind of parasite, has attached itself to the back of Johnny’s neck. As he stands there, motionless, with his back to her and his arms hanging at his side, this worm like creature dangles from his neck. Its body stretching from the middle of his neck to the middle of his back, it slivers from side to side like a snake.

“Ew… that’s disgusting!" She thinks.

She then removes her flashlight from her rifle before slinging it over her shoulder. Holding the light with her left hand, she keeps it pointed directly at Johnny while she unsheathes a large knife from behind her waist with her right, and then slowly begins her approach.

“I’ll just grab the little bast*rd and cut it off!" She tries to convince herself.

Just as she’s about to reach out and grab ahold of it, Johnny spins around! Startled by his sudden response she reels backwards a few steps and shines her light into his face. His eyes are wide open yet he has no pupils, it’s as if they’ve rolled back into his skull.

“Cav?" She asks, hoping for some kind of normalcy in his reply.

His mouth opens but no words come out. His tongue, as white as new cotton sheets, starts thrashing around his mouth like a fish tail out of water. Then he lets out a blood curling scream that is so deep and so long, that it doesn’t even seem humanly possible!

Sineca backs away slowly and shakes her head in disbelief. She doesn’t know how to react to the sounds coming out of his mouth, as his scream echoes all around her. If this wasn’t her friend, she’d surely end its miserable life where it stood. But this isn’t some kind of monster; no, this is Johnny Cavalera, a member of The Pack and one of her closest allies.

She sheathes her knife and ready’s her rifle, attaching the light underneath once more.

Johnny’s scream ends as abruptly as it began, yet it continues to echo until it fades in the darkness surrounding the room. As he stares directly at Sineca, his eyes never wavering, never blinking, he drops his rifle into the water.

She’s briefly relieved by his actions until he opens his mouth again, with his tongue flopping around he begins pacing toward her.

Backing into a wall, she raises her weapon, pointing it straight at his chest, “God*amn it Cav, don’t make me f*cking shoot you!" She pleads with him, as she prepares to defend herself.

Johnny suddenly stops in his tracks, his pupils roll down and he slumps forward as if something had just let go of him. Sineca can only make out a blur as something strikes him in the side of the head and he tumbles sideways, falling into the water.

“That’s for calling me an as*hole!" She hears Reginald say.

Pointing her light at his voice, she sees him standing there with a death grip on the creature in his left hand, as it thrashes about trying to escape.

“You alright?" He questions, not appearing concerned at all with the thrashing going on in his hand.

“Oh yeah, fantastic!" She replies.

“Good, then how about you get that damn light out of my eyes and help me with Cav, before he drowns over here?"

To be continued…

Last edited by A.D.Fenix on Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:29 am; edited 1 time in total

Reginald and Rebecca walk into the front room, Johnny slouches between them, dripping wet, his arms drooped around there necks. He can barely move his feet, yet he still tries to keep pace with his comrades. Backing up into a corner of the room, they sit him down and prop him up against the wall. He continues to slouch, looking like a man made of rubber. He tries to say thank you, but all that comes out is, “Thnn nu”. His tongue refuses to cooperate with his brain and his futile attempt to speak creates a small stream of drool, which dribbles down his chin.

“Holy sh*t, WTH happened to you?” William questions.

It takes all of Johnny’s strength to barely shake his head and shrug his shoulders, “Idunnuh”, he replies.

Sineca holds up a sealed glass canister. Inside, a worm like creature is stuck to the glass, like a sucker fish cleaning a tank of its algae. It has an abnormally large mouth for such a small organism and the center of its body is so bloated with blood, that you can actually see the red tint through its semi-translucent skin.

“It’s called a Mindworm!” Reginald says. “It feeds on blood! It survives by attaching itself to a host and injecting them with a neurotoxin. A psychedelic hallucinogen, which causes paralyses and drives its host insane, if not removed rather quickly.”

“But if it causes paralysis, why was he still able to move and come after me like that?” Sineca asks.

“It doesn’t actually paralyze the muscle tissue; it disrupts the brain from communicating with the body, allowing it to assume control of the hosts’ nervous system.”Reginald taps his finger on the glass, in the center of the worms’ mouth. Several tentacles quickly come out of its throat and thump against the glass, trying to attack him!“In effect, this thing was coming after you, not Cav! Cav, was just a mindless meat suit at that point! You see, this creature, it’s a smart little sh*t. It knows that eventually, its host will run out of blood. Which means it will run out of food. So, it uses its host as a pawn, to find more food, or, another host!”

“You mean Cav wanted to eat me!?” Sineca asks, with a look of shock and disgust on her face.

“No, not necessarily, more than likely, he would’ve tried to rip out your throat and then consume as much of your blood as possible!” Reginald replies.

“Oh that’s it, I’m smashing this little f*cker!” She says, lifting the canister into the air.

“Sin, DONOT drop that! If I wanted it dead, it would already be dead. You never know when a Mindworm may come in handy!” Reginald tells her.

She gives him an awkward look, wondering WTH he’s up to and then lowers her arms. “Whatever you say Reg, but I’m not traveling with this thing, you take it!” She says, sticking it in his midsection as if she were handing off a thrashball. Reginald takes it and then turns and looks at Abran. Abran quickly looks away, trying to avoid eye contact, he stares out the window. Reginald then looks to Jimmy, who’s already begun fidgeting with his tracking remote on his wrist.

“Bones?” He says.

“Agh… d*mnit Reg, no, just NO!” He replies, knowing there’s no way he’s getting out of this.

Reginald walks over and hands it to Jimmy, he reluctantly accepts. “Lock it into the cargo hull in the back of the horse, don’t worry, I’ll get it out when we get back.” He tells him.

“Yes sir” he replies, sounding a bit defeated.

Three days prior...

Four long, pale grey fingers, with aged, ridged nails, rest atop a smooth white surface. Slowly, they rotate in a circular pattern, admiring the texture. Three sets of footsteps can be heard approaching, thumping on the hard granite surface beneath their feet. The fingers slowly stop and then begin tapping in consecutive order, from pinky to index finger.

The three approaching figures, suddenly, come to a halt. One takes a step forward, his features becoming visible in the ambient torch light, while the others wait in the dark. He takes a knee and slightly bows, to his left, fire from a large pit crackles and billows into the air.

“Ahh … Bodakia, what brings you to the depths … from which … you so desperately wished to escape? Have you … found them? Come to tell me … you cut out their hearts … deliver me their HEADS!?” An elderly, yet commanding, mans’, impatient voice, rumbles, through the dark of the deep.

“Syyrusss, The first born and his sisterrr, cower behind their great wallls and their powerful canonnns. But … I have reasonnn to believe, the twin is on his way to Valmerrre, with his troublesommme friennnds.”He replies - some of his words roll with a bit of a lisp type growl, a minor flaw he inherited from his father’s DNA.

The elder lifts his hands, spreading his fingers and then grips them down on the smooth rounded surfaces, at each edge of his arms rests. “Then I ask you again … Commander … why are you HERE!?” He growls.

“This group, thisss Pack, as they call themselllves, they have proven to be quite … evasivvve. It seemmms they have some sort of cloaking and tracking devissse. I fear that, without the proper … resourcesss, we may fail once againnn”. Bodakia replies.

Syyrus, sits in a large chair, dressed in a dark cloak, mostly hidden by the darkness. It’s hard to make out his features against the dark stonewall behind him. He leans forward; a pale grey speckled black, almost squared jaw-line becomes visible. “Ha-ha- ha-ha-hah”, he laughs at Bodakias’ failed attempts to capture the second son, despite all the power he has received. “You already have the entire HORDE at your disposal … BodaKIA! What more could you possibly … need?”

Bodakia lowers his head, slightly scorned by Syyrus’s words. His upper lip twitches and then curls as he snarls, showing his sharp pointed teeth. He glances at his hand, which took over a year to grow back; after that b*tch cut it off. No-one, wants to see her children suffer and bleed more than I, he tells himself. Except maybe Syyrus, that is. His anger over the loss of his beloved Myyrah has spanned a generation. Surely, he will give him whatever he wants to avenge her death. Still, he feels uneasy with what he’s about to ask.

“Yesss, but they have a unique giffft, I wish to possesss. Like the chamellleonnn, they can hide anywhere, unnndetected.” He replies.

“And how will you control THEM … Bodakia? They will tear you … limb from limb, that is why they are bound … in chains, need I remind YOU?”

“I don’t wishhh to control themmm, Syyrusss. I only wishhh, to extract their giffft, use it to ourrr, adddvantage.”

“Ahh … now I see why you are here … Myyrah, adored the Sareen. Their hissing can be quite … tranquil. She used to say it gave her piece of mind, called it her … serenity. Will any harm come to them, from this … extraction?”

“No, but, it willll be, unnnpleasant.” He replies.

“I see, very well, you may have this … gift, of the Sareen. But, I suggest you bring me a gift, in return. My friends are getting … lonely, I believe they wish for their children, to accompany them. Don’t you, Marcus … Anya?” He says, looking down at each of his hands resting on top of their skulls, imbedded into the arm rests of his throne.

As he places the glass canister into a storage compartment in the back of Abran’s Pack Horse. Jimmy stares at the vial creature, trapped inside its prison of glass. Watching with unease as 100’s of tiny needle like teeth scratch at the wall of its confinement. Slowly reaching down, he cocks his middle finger with his thumb and prepares to flick the glass. Just as he’s about to strike he’s startled by the sound of brush crackling behind him. He quickly turns and crouches as if somehow that may hide him from whatever is lurking in the woods, just a few meters away. He then slowly begins to stand, realizing that the sound came from beyond the perimeter of the optic camo that he’d setup, upon their arrival.

“Whatever’s out there, it can’t see me.” he thinks to himself, “It’s too far away.”

Gathering his composure, he remembers the tracking remote on his wrist and quickly flips it up! Watching attentively as the timer ticks down, he begins to mumble. Trying in vain to reassure himself that there’s really nothing there and that he’s just letting the Mindworm get inside his head.

3…2…1

Jimmy’s gut wrenches as the tracking beacon fires a pulse that illuminates multiple unknown entities just beyond the tree line, only meters from where he stands.

“Oh f**k, f**K, F**K”! He whispers, slowly crouching down once again. The sinking feeling in his stomach grows as he realizes the others have no idea what is happening and it’s all his fault!

He turned off the audio alarm on the tracking remote just prior to entering the child’s play room with Star and Billy. He never turned it back on. Then, he had allowed himself to be so distracted by the da*n Mindworm that he’d forgotten to monitor the da*n thing.

“I have to warn them!” He thinks.

Placing his right hand on his temple he opens coms but transmits nothing.

Hearing static over coms, Reginald looks around the room, “Who’s sitting on their mic?” He inquires.

Everyone in the room glances about as if to say “Not me!”

“If it was someone in the room we would’ve heard you over coms Reg, it has to be Bones, he’s the only one not here right now.” Rebecca suggests.

“What do you see out there?” Reginald says, looking over to Abran who’s staring out the window.

“Nothin, not a da*n thing!” Abran replies.

The group hears a faint inaudible sound that can only be described as a type of growl and then coms go silent again.

“I can see their silhouettes moving, but they blend in with their surroundings. They’re staying out of sight, just beyond the tree line. They’re making their way towards you, flanking from the North! Reg, whatever they are, they’re big man, fuc*ing huge, at least 8ft. tall!”

“Bones, I want you to quietly get up into the back of the Pack Horse and man the turret. DONOT fire until you get the signal or you are attacked, do you understand me?” Reginald commands.